Metropolis (Slaves to the City) - Chapter Two

[Phoenix]

Backpedaling quickly, Nikolai tries to evade the attack from his would-be assassin. Keeping the wand in between him and his foe, he attempts to duck around the figure and get closer to the workbench. His eyes scan the surface frantically, looking for the vial. He fires another bolt at the assassin in order to distract him, as little effect as that might have.

He thought briefly about attempting to bluff his way out of this, but his hands and voice were shaking enough to give him away. Besides, nobody ever seemed to believe his stories anyways. This one should be a good telling however. . . if he ever lived to describe it.

[sblock]Magic Missile damage - 5pts
Assassin attack roll (AC 12) +14 - Hit
Assassin damage roll - 2pts
Spot check (DC 7) +5 - Failure
[/sblock]

The wand's tip flares once more, spitting a ball of energy that shoots across the room and slams into the assassin's chest, causing the man to stumble and nearly fall. The anger on Nikolai's assailant's face grew, and as the gnome searched frantically for the vial on his cluttered desk, the assassin attacked.

Throwing himself across the desk violently, blade first, the tip of the man's sword flickered before Nikolai's face and he felt a stinging sensation across his cheek. Blood trickled down his face and splattered softly across the work notes that lie on the table before him, and for a moment his legs quivered and his eyes blurred...

 

[Phoenix]

Jovik's head swam. What in the name of the nine hells was going on today he thought to himself. And when did his secrect hideout become the central terminal of the Krysh docks?

An assassin's dagger, a thug's blow, a murder's garrotte, any of these would be better than having to deal with all this mystical mumbo-jumbo. First some yellow-robe who steals his boys, and now this King Frosty, who pops up in his own house, who wants his life.

More out of bemusment and instict, Jovik found his voice "I have no truck with bankers of any kind, be it coin, flesh or spirits" And the Jackal attempts to make his exit through a secret door into his comforting alleys, knowing full well this room was somehow or another full of guildsmen and King Frosty at the same time, but at different times. There was no choice here, escape was his only hope. A plague from Mother Cauphriol* on this day. The Jackal had lost everything today, and the day wasn't over, nor were the losses. But the Jackal is sly, the Jackal can hide, if he can only survive..............

Jovik's vision danced across the room, trying desperately now to try and find the walls of his home, let alone the secret exits. Faint voices echoed in the room, voices he could barely identify as the theives that had broken into his home.

"Jovik the Jackal, there is no escape from death. It is time for you to meet your destiny, I am here to take you to the afterlife that you deserve, do not stay in a world that has no place for you."​

The voice of this...man...was hypnotising, he could feel himself drifting off to sleep at the sound of the strangers moist lips forming words. But there was something else, something...not right.

At his feet Jovik saw himself, lying flat on his back. There wasn't a mark on...himself. Looking at his own hands (rather than that of the floor-bound copy of himself) he noticed that he was transparent, spectral.

Something was definately wrong.

 

[Phoenix]

Having found his composure, Ru rises from the bow, saying "As you will, good Constantine. Until tonight, then, I'll leave you gentlefolk to your entrepreneurial pursuits."

With that, Ru excuses himself, heading home to get a brief bite and take a short nap before meeting the boys. Then onto the evening, wherein he'd either prove a brilliant risk-taker or a short-lived fool. He so very much hoped it would be the former, though his roiling stomach seemed more convinced it was the latter.

Scrab and Wos were always easy to spot, something about a pair of half-ogres (some say the other half of them was dwarf) loitering in an alley beside Ari's compound comparing knuckle sizes, wasn't exactly subtle. As for the Ysnek twins, there were here, probably, somewhere.

Approaching the two heavies, Ru couldn't help but notice that both of them looked a lot older. Perhaps being in this business did that to people, after all the criminals of the streets got younger and younger each year. The two opened their mouths and attempted a smile, though both were missing too many teeth.

"Ay Ru, 'ere we iz. Tha twinz iz 'ere sunwayre." Scrab's language was always a treat. "Thay seid tha' thay waz gowan' ta git sum' stuf fa tanite."

Wos frowned a little at Scrab before punching him in the jaw while he was distracted, that only served to make the two of them laugh equally stupid laughs.

 

[Fenris]

Jovik's vision danced across the room, trying desperately now to try and find the walls of his home, let alone the secret exits. Faint voices echoed in the room, voices he could barely identify as the theives that had broken into his home.

"Jovik the Jackal, there is no escape from death. It is time for you to meet your destiny, I am here to take you to the afterlife that you deserve, do not stay in a world that has no place for you."​

The voice of this...man...was hypnotising, he could feel himself drifting off to sleep at the sound of the strangers moist lips forming words. But there was something else, something...not right.

At his feet Jovik saw himself, lying flat on his back. There wasn't a mark on...himself. Looking at his own hands (rather than that of the floor-bound copy of himself) he noticed that he was transparent, spectral.

Something was definately wrong.

When an animal is cornered and knows it, they turn to fight, regardless of the size of the attacker. As his namesake would have, The Jackal turned with a snarl, reacjhing for a sword that was no longer there, or at least no longer graspable. A dream he thought with a panic, it has to be a dream. But the cold was too sharp, the air too crisp as it burned his lungs, he knew he wasn't a dream, but more of this damnable magic that has turned this day into a madness. Without his sword though, the sword that has been his salvation, his comfort and his courage, Jovik's wild desire to fight is extinguished in a swirl of cold air, his only thought is survival. Jovik reaches down to grab his body "I ain't ready to go! Hasn't life been hard enough for me! Why have you come for me! Why me!?!" he screams to the strange man in the obsidian crown.

 

[jkason]

Scrab and Wos were always easy to spot, something about a pair of half-ogres (some say the other half of them was dwarf) loitering in an alley beside Ari's compound comparing knuckle sizes, wasn't exactly subtle. As for the Ysnek twins, there were here, probably, somewhere.

Approaching the two heavies, Ru couldn't help but notice that both of them looked a lot older. Perhaps being in this business did that to people, after all the criminals of the streets got younger and younger each year. The two opened their mouths and attempted a smile, though both were missing too many teeth.

"Ay Ru, 'ere we iz. Tha twinz iz 'ere sunwayre." Scrab's language was always a treat. "Thay seid tha' thay waz gowan' ta git sum' stuf fa tanite."

Wos frowned a little at Scrab before punching him in the jaw while he was distracted, that only served to make the two of them laugh equally stupid laughs.

Would that Ru still had the brutish optimism of his sizable companions. He forced a smile in any case and turned to look for the twins. The pair of half-elves were the best sneaks he knew, however. If they didn't want to be seen, chances were fair he'd not see them hiding in his own shadow. Luckily, they were on his side.

"Stuff? Hopefully that includes enough of their handy tranquilizing darts to take out a giant. Damn dwarven constitution's like to be our biggest issue."

Ru smiled, then added just a little louder, mischief evident, "But knowing those lazies, they're just stuck trying to remember which one of them is Twilit and which is Daan."

 

[Phoenix]

When an animal is cornered and knows it, they turn to fight, regardless of the size of the attacker. As his namesake would have, The Jackal turned with a snarl, reacjhing for a sword that was no longer there, or at least no longer graspable. A dream he thought with a panic, it has to be a dream. But the cold was too sharp, the air too crisp as it burned his lungs, he knew he wasn't a dream, but more of this damnable magic that has turned this day into a madness. Without his sword though, the sword that has been his salvation, his comfort and his courage, Jovik's wild desire to fight is extinguished in a swirl of cold air, his only thought is survival. Jovik reaches down to grab his body "I ain't ready to go! Hasn't life been hard enough for me! Why have you come for me! Why me!?!" he screams to the strange man in the obsidian crown.

Jovik's hand grasped at nothing desperately grabbing for his blade as he confronted the apparition. For a moment there was nothing, then his sword silently and subtley appeared in his hand.

"Jovik the Jackal, you were killed in a confrontation with the thief Rashul. Your throat was slashed from behind with his blade and it took you nearly a minute to die. If it is worth anything, I am sorry."​

 

[Phoenix]

Would that Ru still had the brutish optimism of his sizable companions. He forced a smile in any case and turned to look for the twins. The pair of half-elves were the best sneaks he knew, however. If they didn't want to be seen, chances were fair he'd not see them hiding in his own shadow. Luckily, they were on his side.

"Stuff? Hopefully that includes enough of their handy tranquilizing darts to take out a giant. Damn dwarven constitution's like to be our biggest issue."

Ru smiled, then added just a little louder, mischief evident, "But knowing those lazies, they're just stuck trying to remember which one of them is Twilit and which is Daan."

[sblock]Spot check (DC 27) +21 - Failure[/sblock]

There was less than a whisper as the twins appeared at the end of the alleyway, walking out of the darkness side-by-side towards Ru and the half-ogres. One of them, Twilit, was holding a thin pole approximately twelve feet wide, while the other had a spool of rope and a bucket on one arm.

Standing before the group, the twins calmly glance at Ru. "We are ready."

 

[jkason]

[sblock]Spot check (DC 27) +21 - Failure[/sblock]

There was less than a whisper as the twins appeared at the end of the alleyway, walking out of the darkness side-by-side towards Ru and the half-ogres. One of them, Twilit, was holding a thin pole approximately twelve feet wide, while the other had a spool of rope and a bucket on one arm.

Standing before the group, the twins calmly glance at Ru. "We are ready."

Ru cocks his head to one side as the twins appear. "I can see not wanting to touch one of our quarry without a twelve foot pole, and rope, sure, but ... what's the bucket for?"

Ru holds up his hand as he notices the position of the sun. "On second thought, tell me on the way. I think we want to start this just before dusk. We don't want it getting so dark that the dwarves' vision puts them at the advantage."

Motioning for the others to follow, Ru sets off back to the Red Lamp district.

"We know they're encroaching on the Red Lamp from their usual haunts. I figure our best bet, then, is to head toward The Apartments from the Red Lamp. That way we'll only have to deal with the smaller expansion parties. We either nab a natural straggler, or we do a little distracting to encourage a straggler. Then it's off to the Delphi district for our translator."

He hoped he sounded more confident than he felt, which was to say not at all--with a touch of nausea for good measure.

[sblock]Trying to find the Killi-kelli-hek in the Red Lamp is the kind of scenario where I'd like to use that "urban tracking" idea I was talking about when I wrote up Ru: applying the Track feat in "the urban wilds" rather than in the woods (since there aren't really woods 'round here).[/sblock]

 

[Fenris]

Jovik's hand grasped at nothing desperately grabbing for his blade as he confronted the apparition. For a moment there was nothing, then his sword silently and subtley appeared in his hand.

"Jovik the Jackal, you were killed in a confrontation with the thief Rashul. Your throat was slashed from behind with his blade and it took you nearly a minute to die. If it is worth anything, I am sorry."​

As the sword appears in Jovik's hand, his confidence returns. Resignation turns to resolve, despair to desire, apathy to anger. With that devil-may-care grin that helped earn him his nickname, he stands to confront this strange cold man. "Can't say I believe you Zsath. Rashul's not that good. And I'da known if I was dying, especially if it took a damn minute. But if'n you are right, well, then ain't going hurt if I kill you!" And the Jackal charges the bizarre man, focusing all the anger and confusion of the day on this latest bearer of chaos to his life.

 

[Phoenix]

"Can't say I believe you Zsath. Rashul's not that good. And I'da known if I was dying, especially if it took a damn minute. But if'n you are right, well, then ain't going hurt if I kill you!" And the Jackal charges the bizarre man, focusing all the anger and confusion of the day on this latest bearer of chaos to his life.

[sblock]Jovik attack roll (AC hidden - coup de grace!) +27 - Automatic Critical Hit
Jovik damage roll - 25pts (Damage Reduction 5/epic)
Zsath Fortitude Save (DC 35) +32 - Failure[/sblock]

Zsath looks calmly at the charging Jovik, his eyes uncaring as the sword bares down upon him, as if the blade could not possibly harm him. He does not even move an inch as the sword slashes madly across his throat, spraying blood all across the Jackal's ethereal form.

But the look in his eyes changes quickly.

Grasping at his throat, Zsath falls to his knees with a look of horror on his face. He tries to talk, tries to say something, but all that comes to his lips is a bubbling crimson liquid. Standing over the crowned man, seconds pass as Jovik watches the man's life slowly slip away. As Zsath collapses, his body begins to fade, disappearing completely and leaving Jovik completely alone...